My dream/nightmare layout... July Update 7/31/19 Big Boy month!

Absolutely amazing Elliot.  Thanks for letting us follow along.

Elliot - Fantastic!  It has been fun to watch your progress, but it is getting more exciting as you near the finish line.  L0ve the way that your ballasted track looks.

Art

Another fruitful month in the building of your layout.

July was a big month. Lots of progress.

This is going to be some kind of layout. Great job, Elliot.

Elliot,

   Man I loved your vacation pictures, thanks for posting them and getting to ride behind a real Shay Engine, now that is definitely way cool!

PCRR/Dave

Elliot, thanks for supplying my monthly fix of progress on your mega layout.  In addition to the time you devote to actually building the layout, you make the time to photograph, describe, and post what you and your team have accomplished.  BRAVO!!!

Thank you all so much!!! You guys are the greatest. It's your support that keeps me motivated. This is a large and unique project, and it has been so much fun sharing it with you. My one regret is that I live so far away from all of you.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to empty the dishwasher so I can get back to work on that fascia. We wouldn't want Matt to run out of work tomorrow.

elliot, you are just amazing and so are the fellow helpers I feel we shall see a running Christmas video yes I Believe.

Ray

Elliot,

You certainly got a lot done last month!  It is really turning out nice!  Thank you for sharing your progress reports!

Another really productive month behind you, you are really trucking, no training along.

Thanks for all the daily updates and the ones at the end of each month.

Just an outstanding lay-out!!!

Elliot, do you have a job other than this hobby lay-out? If you do when do you find time to work?

Thanks guys.

To answer Redball's question: no, I consider myself retired, even though I'm only 54.

During the entire month of July, there were only 2 days when I didn't spend at least one hour working on the layout. I have a train calendar that I use to record everyone's hours.

Just for fun I crunched my numbers. There were 744 hours in July, and I spent 107 of them working on the layout. That works out to about 14% of the time, or put another way, 25 hours per week. That's a nice part time job.

Looks like there might be a faint light at the end of the tunnel that is getting stronger. Lots of progress. Along with the others here, I also look forward to and enjoy your monthly updates. Keep them coming and keep up the good progress. I have probably said this before, but that is going to be one nice layout when finished!

Thanks Rtr. This is one time when we hope that light is the oncoming train.

When we do finish the track and basic wiring later this year, the project will reach something of a cross road. One road will be the visual finishing, track paint, ballast, the last of the fascia and finally scenery and structures.

The other road is all electrical and control oriented. First we have to get temporary control of all the Tortoises. Then all the detection wires have to be brought back to their panels. After that comes the real fun with CMRI and JMRI, which will automate the mainlines and provide full CTC from a realistic modern style dispatcher panel.

You are most welcome.

It is all very interesting to see through your pictures and updates, but I think the automated control part is even more interesting. I hope you are able to post LOTS of details on that part when you get to it. It will be neat to see it all up and running and under control, I am sure you already know that too.   

You are correct sir! To me the scenery stuff is more academic and incidental. What will make this project most unique will be the controls. This is why I wanted as much mainline as I could get and an all TMCC roster.

I have all the pieces that I should need for this, including hardware and the manuals for the CMRI, but I have to admit, I'm more than a little intimidated by it. The JMRI software seems less challenging, unless I want to develop some special routines.

One of the interesting parts of JMRI is that the TMCC codes are already part of it. Take that serial port on the command base, and hook it straight to the computer. Combine that with full mainline detection, and suddenly (in theory) the computer could run trains by itself, and none of this playback stuff either. True live action.

The first routine I would write would be a "hostler" for the large hidden yard. Each of the five tracks queues up to 5 trains. When a train leaves, all the trains behind it need to advance one position. If I can make that work, the sky's the limit!!!

Elliot,

This is so amazing, what a beautiful railroad this is turning into. I tip my hat and applaud you guys. 

Alex

Elliot, your progress is amazing and I can honestly say, I look forward to your updates. Your layout already is and is going to be amazing!!! Thank You for sharing your hard work and progress. We are about to build a house and my 6 year old says he wants a basement like Mr. Elliot or Mr. Eric. If only basements weren't ridiculously expensive in Mississippi. He is going to have to settle for a bonus room over the garage.

The mind boggles at the size and scope of this layout, what a masterpiece in the making!  I'll bet tallying up the man-hours for this little project will be an eye-opener!

Great stuff, I love following along.  I'm also insanely jealous!

Once again, thanks guys!

Alex - It's one of the great aspects of this hobby, to take an idea and make it a reality. With each passing day, the vision becomes clearer, and not just to you the viewers, but to myself as well. My job is to let everyone else see what I already see in my mind.

Corey - We love our basements here in the great white north. They're great to beat the heat of summer and the cold of winter. Run this one by your son, ask him if he would like to shovel snow. I think the bonus room will sound much better after that. Of course he could reply, "What's snow?"

John - Welcome back to this side of the tracks. I haven't seen you here in a while. It is so easy to just lurk, I'm notorious. I see almost everything on the forum but rarely say anything. It would be very interesting to know how many man hours the layout has. I think I started keeping a tally back in 2013 after Patrick started. I'll have to go look.

Serious construction started back in 2003, prior to that I was just picking and poking at it and reconfiguring the salvaged bits from my start at my previous house. That went up through late 2006 when I got the cancer diagnosis. Then came what I have come to call "the dark years", six years when I almost never set foot in the train room.

After I got the all clear from the oncologist in 2012, it was back to work. I guess the layout is now in what could be called the "renaissance years".

By the way John, I think you can see why I'm so anxious to have a TMCC signal tester for this layout. I may have an R2LC that I can steal from an engine that I smoked a few years back. I think the board is good, but the wiring harness is very crispy. If I had a schematic and a parts list I could probably build it myself.

Elliot, Your layout is looking great. Love to see the updates every month. You and your friend keep up the good work. Thanks for posting your progress.

David

That's a biggn !!! Are you using the new LED light bulbs (60 watt or less ) in your lighting fixtures ?? I tried them .....they give off -0- HEAT....a real nice improvement and last a very long time too.

Yup, those are the Cree daylight LED bulbs from Home Depot. They do actually throw off a little heat. It isn't exactly zero heat. The heat sink is a little toasty if you grab them after they've been on for a while, but there's no comparison to an incandescent bulb. They only draw 9 Watts each for a 60W equivalent, and the whole room is very bright at under 20 Amps total draw.

And if you bump the globe off one you can watch Elliots wallet tighten up

Elliot,  I came across your layout posts last week and have been trying to play catch-up.  I get all the time I can to read your saga from the beginning.  It is nothing short of amazing!  I really acquire a lot of information and inspiration from seeing your progress and all the positive aspects of our hobby.  I, too, had a long hiatis of working on my layout, better part of eight years.  However, mine was due to my employment keeping me working out-of-state all the time.  But, with retirement last year I am finally "back at it" and reading posts here are all inspiring.  To you, sir, and all others, a great big THANK YOU!!

Hi Elliot,

Wow!!!  What a crazy layout.  It truly defines what can happen when dreams have no limits.  I'm fascinated by the layout.  And your ambition and attitude is inspiring.  

I'm new.  I've just started building a moderate layout (well, small compared to yours).  I've been trying to navigate the online waters and have had pretty good luck.  But haven't had such good luck locally.  Then I stumble across this post...and you.  

I'm also from the Twin Cities.  And (if your willing to share) I'd love to hear any advise you have.  Where to shop, clubs, layouts on display, etc...

Thanks!!!

Brian

Can't wait to see more.

Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to reply. I was out of town for a few days.

Texastrain - You're welcome, and welcome aboard my journey. You actually took me on a trip down memory lane, as I followed your reading progress. I don't get quite as excited about trains as I used to, but it's nice to know that I can still inspire others. I tend to do things on this layout a little differently from most people. Part of that comes from my experience at the mall, and a desire to recycle as much of that material as possible. Finally, welcome back to the hobby. Please post photos of your progress in "What did you do on your layout today?" Or you can start your own topic like this one.

Brian - It is always nice to find the locals. It's a rather difficult task around here, the way the forum is structured. I'm going to send you an email with my phone number, so we can actually talk. I have lots to say. I also have a standing invitation to all forum members to visit the layout. Just be careful, I will want to put you to work on my crew.

Pennsynut - August is getting off to a bit of a slow start, but Matt will be here tomorrow to get me going again. You can always look for these updates late on the last day of the month.

Brian, you can hit me up too. I've got some layout building experience n my style is different than Elliot's. I'm a big kid that's likes trains so my approach is different

Elliot,

One of my most memorable recollections of this forum was first seeing your posts all those years ago.  I also did the hiatus thing....sometime around 2006.  Life threw a butt load of crap at me after 2006 so I went to work, throwing all my effort towards those issues.  Been back now for only a short time and the postponed dream is even stronger than before.

Life issues have a way of impeding progress, but priorities need to be addressed before we can fully benefit from our leisure time.  I know, it's cold comfort to say such when at our lowest ebb.  I fully understand the inconsolable hopelessness that can block right thinking and the forced energy needed to turn things around.  I bet in a big way we get over it simply on the dream of seeing the project completed.

BTW, great layout....greater yet...you're still around to see the dream to fruition.

Bruce

Yeah Bruce, this whole hiatus thing seems to be a rather common theme with a lot of people around here, albeit for a variety of reasons.

In May of 2012, when the oncologist essentially said, go away, we're done here, it was like, what next? The part of the story that I haven't told, is that it was my wife who urged me to get back into trains.

Of course she didn't realize that she had unleashed the monster, and over the next year and a half, I proceeded to buy up half of eBay, in an effort to make up for lost time. The other unforeseen pitfall came when I started getting help. All of a sudden she was on the hook to make dinner for us. I think this goes in the be careful what you wish for file.

August was not as crazy as July was, but a lot still got done. Joe was here 3 times, Matt twice, no Patrick and no Jon.

The month started out with me painting the 80' of fascia that was hung in July.

This was so that Matt could install more manual switch throws.

Speak of the devil... there he is!

He discovered a broken throw bar, fortunately I was able to repair it in place.

This is one of the switches from the "A" Yard ladder being prepped for installation. Because the switch has been chopped so severely, there's a good chance that engines could stall. The gray wires have been added for power routing.

This micro switch will do the routing.

The line of 072 chops in place.

I finally finished the "A" Yard...

And what I've come to call the "flying wye".

Joe has nearly completed wiring the upper deck.

He also helped me lift the second half of the Roseville deck into place.

I started a new project.

This is the first of two turnout relay panels.

The relays will reverse the polarity going to the Tortoises. The early stages of socket wiring.

More of Joe's handy work.

Ditto for Matt's.

And mine.

Matt thinks this is a spaghetti bowl, just because he has to work around some obsticles. I think it's pretty neat.

Finally, I dug this bad boy out from under Red Wing today. The two small transformers in the lower left will provide 24VDC to the relays. The electronics in the upper right are part of the CMR/I system. More about that in the coming months.

Moving towards your end objective, OPERATION, keep tracking!

Elliot, Thanks for the update. Everything looks good. Nice job of wiring.  

Good progress. Slowly adding check marks to your progress board. Really interested in the CMR/I system. Looks as if it will make operations possible without an army having to be present for operations.

Wow Elliot - looking great!

I'm tired just looking at the photos!  Your progress is amazing!

Another amazing month's accomplishments. You certainly are organized. Myself, I'd be at a loss as where to begin.

The picture of the knobs just doesnt quite show how much of a PITA some of these things can be but I like this one because it shows how challenging putting these throw in can be sicne most of these switches are right next to each other

I really like these updates, look forward to them. Looks like good progress once again. I am looking forward to the CMRI/control info to come. I bet you are going to have one heck of a wiring diagram.